Wall Street's optimism in last week's preview about the earnings of tech stocks wasn't misplaced, as there were many more positive surprises than negative ones among the stocks we looked at. This week will bring plenty more data for investors in and watchers of the sector to mull over. Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL), AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T), and Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT), for example, are expected by analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial to post modest earnings gains from a year ago, to $1.11 per share (on $8.1 billion in sales), $0.72 per share (on $31.3 billion in sales), and $0.47 per share (on $14.8 billion in sales) respectively. All three of these companies ended the week closer to their 52-week lows than highs, and analysts on average consider them each a buy.

Here's a look at some of the week's biggest expected earnings gainers and decliners in the sector:

• Baidu.com Inc. (NASDAQ: BIDU): $1.25 per share (+44.0%) on revenues of $134.7 million (+103.2%)
• Broadcom Corp. (NASDAQ: BRCM): $0.44 per share (+38.6%) on revenues of $1.3 billion (+33.8%)
• QLogic Corp. (NASDAQ: QLGC): $0.31 per share (+29.0%) on revenues of $170.0 million (+21.2%)
• FLIR Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: FLIR): $0.32 per share (+28.1%) on revenues of $275.2 million (+44.0%)
• Juniper Networks Inc. (NASDAQ: JNPR): $0.30 per share (+26.7%) on revenues of $927.4 million (+26.2%)
• Waters Corp. (NYSE: WAT): $0.75 per share (+17.3%) on revenues of $391.6 million (+11.1%)
• Flextronics International Ltd. (NASDAQ: FLEX): $0.29 per share (+17.2%) on revenues of $8.7 billion (+57.3%)
• EMC Corp. (NYSE: EMC): $0.19 per share (+10.5%) on revenues of $3.7 billion (+12.9%)

This post is part of a series in which TheStockAdvisors.com asked financial experts to name their top stock pick if McCain or if Obama wins the election.

"If John McCain wins, there's a greater likelihood the reduced-dividend and capital gains tax rate will be extended; in that case, I would favor a tax-advantaged fund such as the Eaton Vance Tax-Advantaged Dividend Income Fund(NYSE: EVT)," says Carla Pasternak in High Yield Investing.

"Eaton Vance Tax-Advantaged Dividend Income Fund has a solid tax-advantaged yield of more than 11%, of which the entire 2007 amount qualified for the reduced dividend tax rate of up to 15%.

"EVT focuses on strong dividend-growers and undervalued stocks with room to move. About 80% of the fund's holdings are in common stocks, with the rest of the portfolio in high-yielding preferred shares.

"Top holdings include oil giants Chevron and ConocoPhillips, as well as utilities like Edison International and dividend stalwart Philip Morris.

"The fund does have large exposure to the financial sector, as it accounts for about 20% of the portfolio. Due to the turmoil in the sector, EVT has seen its share price sink amid the credit crisis.

"While we can't be sure of when the crisis in the financial industry will subside, we can be assured this fund will benefit once things turn around. Meanwhile, investors are able to lock in a juicy double-digit yield.

"Investors seeking international exposure will also do well with this fund. Less than half (45%) of the fund is invested in the U.S. The remainder is spread evenly across Europe's major economies, including Germany, the U.K. and Finland.

"With a solid record for dividend growth, and selling at a steep discount of about -20% to the value of its underlying portfolio assets (meaning investors can pick up a dollar's worth of assets for only 80 cents), EVT might be attractive no matter who assumes the presidency.

"However, due to its tax-advantaged nature, having a Republican in the White House who favors keeping the current reduced-dividend tax would be a direct benefit to EVT investors."

Steven Halpern's TheStockAdvisors.com offers a daily look at the latest market commentary and favorite stock picks and investment ideas from the nation's leading financial newsletter advisors.

No one wants to own a gas station; the margins are too small. Consumers will only pay so much for petrol. If the price moves up, people begin to ride bicycles.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP) will sell the last 600 stations it owns, walking away from a business that Exxon Mobil (NYSE: XOM) left just a few months ago. According to The Wall Street Journal, "ConocoPhillips is expected to sell the remainder of its 600 company-owned gasoline stations to closely held PetroSun West LLC for $800 million."

The announcement says a great deal about the perverse economics of the oil business. Due to the recent rise in oil prices, pumping oil out of the ground is an excellent business. The profits on $120 crude are stupendous. But the refining industry is awful. Trying to make margins on the gas and diesel from that high-priced oil is extremely difficult. Demand gets hammered by the consumer's inability to absorb the huge increase in fuel prices.

The question, of course, is why any company would get into the business. That says a great deal about the big oil company strategy of dumping stations. Either the people buying them are fools, or the profits in the sector will come back as gas prices drop. If so, Big Oil will look silly.

Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 247wallst.com.

If Barack Obama is receiving advice from "my pal Warren" then he must not be listening. There is no way that Warren Buffett, the national debt hawk, would support Obama's stupid idea of giving another $1,000 back to every family in America. It is reported that he would pay for this by creating a windfall profit tax on oil companies.

This give-away program is an attempt to buy votes plain and simple. It would add to the national debt, discourage oil companies from investing and worse it would handicap American companies more than others and mortgage more of our children's futures.

The last thing the people of the United States need is more deficit spending. If we did tax oil companies, which I am against, I would only support using the funds for expanding education, research and development in science and engineering with the goal of maintaining our waning leadership in technology.

Was the optimism observed in last week's preview post rewarded? Well, as it turned out there were few negative surprises from the companies listed there, really just Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (NYSE: AMD) and narrow misses from Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) and Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT).

Again this week, in a list of earnings expectations for some prominent companies in a variety of sectors, we see an apparent optimism. That is, analysts are anticipating more earnings growth than earnings declines.

Analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial expect the following companies to report a rise in earnings when compared to the same period of the previous year.

• Newmont Mining Corp. (NYSE: NEM): $0.48 EPS (50.0%) on sales of $1.5 billion (+15.7%)
• Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN): $0.26 EPS (26.9%) on sales of $4.0 billion (+37.1%)
• Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE: CAT): $1.54 EPS (19.5%) on sales of $12.7 billion (+11.7%)
• McDonald's Corp. (NYSE: MCD): $0.86 EPS (17.4%) on sales of $5.9 billion (-1.5%)
• ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP): $3.41 EPS (15.0%) on sales of $198.6 billion (+319.3%)
• Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL): $1.08 EPS (14.8%) on sales of $7.4 billion (+36.0%)
• Halliburton Co. (NYSE: HAL): $0.68 EPS (11.8%) on sales of $4.3 billion (+13.7%)
• Texas Instruments Inc. (NYSE: TXN): $0.46 EPS (8.7%) on sales of $3.4 billion (-1.1%)
• Yahoo Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO): $0.12 EPS (8.3%) on sales of $1.4 billion (+10.5%)
• AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T): $0.76 EPS (7.9%) on sales of $31.2 billion (+5.7%)
• PepsiCo Inc. (NYSE: PEP): $1.02 EPS (7.8%) on sales of $10.5 billion (+9.4%)
• Anheuser-Busch Companies Inc. (NYSE: BUD): $0.93 EPS (6.5%) on sales of $4.7 billion (+4.2%)
• Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE): $0.54 EPS (22.2%) on sales of $11.5 billion (+3.5%)
• 3M Co. (NYSE: MMM): $1.35 EPS (8.9%) on sales of $6.7 billion (+9.0%)
• Merck & Co. (NYSE: MRK): $0.83 EPS (1.2%) on sales of $6.0 billion (-1.2%)

Leading advisor Jack Adamo, editor of Insiders Plus, reports that a Goldman Sachs analyst has chosen one of the stocks on his newsletter's buy list -- ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP) -- as his top pick in the energy sector.

"There was an extremely interesting piece recently in Barron's by the oil analyst at Goldman Sachs who predicted $100 oil back in late 2004. We'd been buying energy stocks for almost a year at that point, but, although I expected oil prices to rise, I had no idea they'd go this high.

"In any case, the analyst, whose name is Arjun Murti, said he expects oil to reach $150 to $200 sometime within the next 24 months. The low end of that range is only a Middle East incident away, but the high end still seems like a reach, especially given weakening economic conditions.

With the economy facing soaring crude oil prices for the past year, consumers and drivers have seen a major impact on their savings. It could seem as though the good old times are over. Gasoline at $4 a gallon is not something we can ignore, and if we take into account that Americans consume nearly 40% of the world's gasoline, you can see where the problems begin. So the surge in oil prices came with an imminent effect on consumers, who had to cut back on their spending.

But since we are already in this unpleasant situation, Kiplinger offers some solutions to help investors fight against high oil prices. Kiplinger underlines in this article that one smart move would be to minimize the cost of driving by making some good energy-related investments.

Gerry Jordan, manager of Jordan Opportunity, recommends investors invest in oil companies such as Schlumberger Ltd. (NYSE: SLB) and Weatherford International (NYSE: WFT), citing strong international business. In addition, Jordan believes that higher crude prices will increase drilling demand. On the other hand, Jordan also loves power companies like Calpine Corp. (NYSE: CPN) and Reliant Energy Inc. (NYSE: RRI) as he anticipates huge power outages across the globe during this year.

This post is part of a series on some of the most memorable companies that have disappeared.

Standard Oil (1870 - 1911) was the dominant oil company in the world until it was felled by the Sherman Anti-Trust Act of 1890. John D. Rockefeller was a business genius of the first order. He used his control over train routes and refineries to buy up oil wells and block competitors from taking market share.

Thanks to journalist Ida Tarbell, Rockefeller's rough business tactics got plenty of publicity. In 1911, the Supreme Court ruled that Standard Oil had violated the Sherman Anti-Trust Act through its tactics of using low prices to wipe out competitors. The result, as chronicled in one of my favorite books, Ron Chernow's Titan, was a breakup of the company into what is now Chevron (NYSE: CVX), Exxon Mobil (NYSE: XOM), and ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP).

The lesson: What didn't kill Standard Oil made its offspring stronger.

Peter Cohan is President of Peter S. Cohan & Associates. He also teaches management at Babson College and edits The Cohan Letter.

Let us know in the comments what you miss about Standard Oil. And be sure to check out other Companies That Have Vanished.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP) closed at $92.17 Friday, shares near record on $137 oil.

WTI crude oil futures are recently down 1.08% to $137.04 according to Bloomberg.

COP overall option implied volatility of 34 is above its 26-week average of 32 according to Track Data, suggesting slightly larger movement.

Volatility Index S&P 500 Options-VIX at 23.55; 10-day moving average is 19.72

Option Update is provided

TheStreet.com's Jim Cramer says the companies could deliver money to shareholders without sacrificing growth.

What happens if the oil companies start actually recognizing their good fortune -- their sustainable good fortune -- and start boosting dividends the way that Tidewater (NYSE: TDW) (Cramer's Take) did last week with its 67% hike.

Throughout this great run with oil and gas, it seems that the companies themselves haven't caught up with the good fortune. They haven't spent that much on drilling relative to profits, and they have chosen to buy a lot of stock back, never bad. But what if they start returning the profits to shareholders in the form of dividends?

I think that what could happen is that you wouldn't think that Chevron (NYSE: CVX) (Cramer's Take) and Occidental Petroleum (NYSE: OXY) (Cramer's Take) and Exxon (NYSE: XOM) (Cramer's Take) are such nose-bleeders.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP) is recently trading up 85 cents to $93.17.

WTI crude oil futures are recently up 0.18% to $133.41 according to Bloomberg.

COP overall option implied volatility of 31 is near its 26-week average according to Track Data, suggesting non-directional movement.

Volatility Index S&P 500 Options-VIX up 27c to 18.26.

Option Update is provided by Stock Specialist Paul Foster of theflyonthewall.com

MAJOR PAPERS:

• According to senior industry sources, the Financial Times reported that the Ministry of Defense could ask General Dynamics Corporation (NYSE: GD) to provide the vehicle design for a new generation of armored vehicles for the army. It is unclear whether General Dynamics, in competition with Nexter and Artec, will be awarded the contract or will be named the preferred bidder.
• Following the collapse in March of The Bear Stearns Companies Inc (NYSE: BSC), the Financial Times also reported that the SEC will soon require Wall Street banks to publicly disclose more details about liquidity and capital positions. Cox also urged lawmakers to pass legislation that would allow the SEC, or another regulator, the "explicit mandate to supervise" investment banks.

OTHER PAPERS:

• According to the New York Times, Citigroup Incorporated (NYSE: C) will move senior investment banker Alberto Verme to Dubai by the end of the month in the hopes of establishing a stronger foothold in the region, a crucial area for global banks.
• The New York Times also reported that several large oil companies, including BP Plc (NYSE: BP), ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP) and Chevron Corporation (NYSE: CVX), agreed to pay nearly $423M in cash in order to settle a lawsuit that alleged water contamination from methyl tertiary butyl ether, a gasoline additive. Under the terms of the deal, the oil giants also agreed to pay 70% of the future cleanup costs for the next 30 years. Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE: XOM) and several other companies named in the suit did not agree to the deal.

Shares of oil company ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP) have lost a little over 2% in early morning trading, even as the company posted a growth of almost 17% for its first-quarter profit. The decline came as a reaction to lower crude oil prices that retreated below $115 a barrel on recovery in the U.S. dollar, dragging down energy stocks.

ConocoPhillips reported its quarterly profit rose to $4.14 billion, compared with $3.55 billion a year ago, boosted by record oil prices which recently jumped above $118 a barrel due to tight supplies and the weak dollar. The company posted earnings of $2.62 a share, topping analysts' predictions for $2.42, according to Thomson Financial. Its quarterly revenue also rose up to $54.9 billion from $41.3 billion a year ago.

The company's exploration and production business saw a gain of 24% to $2.89 billion, helped by increased commodity prices. The third-largest U.S. oil company also said that during the quarter it had to face declining volumes and higher taxes that put pressure on its refining operations earnings. "Although we delivered solid financial results during the first quarter, unplanned downtime negatively impacted our performance," ConocoPhillips' chairman and chief executive stated.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP) is scheduled to report Q1 EPS on April 24.

WTI crude oil futures are down 0.36% to $117.64 according to Bloomberg.

COP May option implied volatility of 32 is near its 26-week average according to Track Data, suggesting non-directional movement.

Qualcomm (NASDAQ: QCOM) will release Q2 EPS after the market close today.

QCOM May option implied volatility of 39 is near its 26-week average, suggesting non-directional risk.

Options Update is provided by Stock Specialist Paul Foster of theflyonthewall.com

U.S. lawmakers are going to get their chance today to ask executives from five of the world's largest oil companies what their take is on current gasoline prices.

Executives from the top three American oil companies -- Exxon Mobil (NYSE: XOM), Chevron (NYSE: CVX) and ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP) -- will be present at today's hearing, as well as executives from BP (NYSE: BP) and Royal Dutch Shell (NYSE: RDS.A). While the executives are predictably going to blame the current high gasoline prices on surging oil, it will still be interesting to see just how hard lawmakers hit the executives.

For the executives, it can't be a good feeling to be walking into today's hearing. The hearing is being called "Drilling for Answers: Oil Company Profits, Runaway Prices and the Pursuit of Alternatives." The hearings will be chaired by Rep. Ed Markey of Massachusetts, who in the past has been a vocal critic of the oil industry.